Zim's Heartbeat
by Fireheart1331
Summary: Another day, another failed attempt at earth conquest. That seemed to be Zim's whole life by this point. However, things are soon to change for Zim and everyone else. My first story. please R&R. enjoy.
1. Chapter 1: Zim's Dark Day

**AN: H-Hello? Is this thing on? Oh!... um.. Hi. Welcome to my first story ever. I hope everyone enjoys their time reading it. Like i said it is my first story, so please read and review. Any help I can get to improve my writting will be greatly appreciated... What?... Yes, I know that... But I-... Ok, ok. Get off my back. I do not own Invader Zim.**

Another day, another failed attempt at earth conquest. That seemed to be Zim's whole life by this point. He had spent nearly 5 years on the miserable little dirtball.

"Why does that big headed Dib-stink constantly ruin my plans?!... I am the almighty ZIM!!!! It should be impossible to beat me... Yet he always finds another way to beat me..." He said in pure frustration and anger before suddenly throwing one of the nearby tables across the room.

Gir was nowhere to be found and Zim obviously didn't care to try and find the S.I.R. unit.

Suddenly his computer started beeping to signal an incoming transmission from the Tallest. Zim quickly straightened his uniform and hit the accept button. "Invader Zim reporting!!" He practically screamed at full attention.

"Ow... Yes. Hi, Zim." Said tallest red looking rather annoyed. "How goes the mission?... Actually don't answer... Zim. We have something to say. You have taken almost 5 times as long as any invader would need for an advanced, high level planet... And you are on a little backwater, dirtball that isn't even capable of extanded space travel past its own moon... We are starting operation impending doom 3. You have obviously become a defect past the point of being able to even be a food service drone... Originally we didn't even know that planet existed. We sent you out there to get lost and die, Zim. You have been nothing but a pain. You destroyed our own planet in impending doom 1... We don't care about your loyalty. Or your dedication to us. We just want you gone. You don't even have to die. It would be better for everyone if you did, but we don't expect you to be able to do that properly. So here is what you can do. Just stay on earth. This is your official banishment. Goodbye Zim. And good riddance." Red said in a long winded explaination not giving Zim even a fraction of a second to think before cutting the transmission.

"... I... D-defective?... Past even a food drone?... I... I am a disgrace to Irk..." He said as the realization suddenly hit him that he was a defect and had been nothing but a burden on the two he looked up to the most.

Dib had planted a small spy cam in Zim's base earlier that day and had just watched the whole thing unfold with Gaz sitting next to him. she was playing her game slave as usual. "Wow... That's harsh even by my standards." Gaz said having put down her game slave halfway through to watch.

Dib just watched in disbelief. "... I... I don't even know what to say... Even I'm feeling bad for Zim... And he tried to kill me on multiple occasions..." Dib said as he turned off the screen on his watch and just sat in thought for a minute.

"... Dib... Should we go check on him? True you two are enimes, but we are the only two who know. His whole life just shattered in front of him... As much as it pains me to say this... We are the only 'friends' he has." Gaz said almost vomiting at the word friend.

"... Yeah... No one deserves to be treated like that... Not even Zim..." Dib said as he got up and started to walk out of the house, heading to Zim's base with Gaz right behind him.


	2. Chapter 2: Just the Start

The alarm for Zim's perimeter scan started to go off. Zim simply sighed. "Computer. Base perimeter on screen." He said sounding rather monotone.

The screen transitioned from a blank screen to one of the outside of his base. Gaz and Dib were walking up the sidewalk to his front door as the gnomes watched them closely.

"I'm not sure this is such a good idea, Gaz. I know we want to help him, but his base does have a ton of traps... Like the gnomes..." He said watching the gnomes as Gaz knocked on the door.

Gaz turned to her brother with her usual scowl. "Don't be such a whiner, Dib. And stop looking so nervous." She said before turning back to the door and knocking again. "Zim. Its Gaz and Dib. We want to talk. We aren't going to do anything but talk."

"Great. Why are Dib-stink and his sister-unit here?! Don't I already have enough to deal with?! IRK!!!... I might as well hear them out... Computer, set the base defences to stun and capture just in case." He said with a sigh as he got out of his chair and went up the lift to the living room.

"Gaz, I don't think he's going to answer." Dib said still watching the gnomes that have now seemed to have powered down.

Gaz simply turned to Dib and stared for a second. "Will you stop whining." It was more of a command then a question. She turned back just in time to see the doorknob turn and the door start to open.

"What do you two want with the almighty ZIM?!?!" Zim asked with his usual enthusiasm, but his eyes betrayed his true emotions. "I am very busy. Lots of plans to come up with, preparations to make." He said seeming like nothing was wrong, but Dib and Gaz could see the pain hidden behind his eyes.

"Zim. We want to talk with you about making peace. Hear me out... We have been enemy's for what? Five and a half, or six years now? Its actually getting a little old. All the fights and everything." Dib said trying not to let on that he planted a spy cam in Zim's base and watched the whole conversation Zim had with Tallest Red.

"What my brother means is that he planted a spy camera in your base and saw the whole thing with that jerk that called you a defect." Gaz said not caring about being subtle.

Dib let out a sigh. "I wasn't going to tell him about that, Gaz. I was just going to try to get the camera out without him noticing." Dib said obviously annoyed. "We just wanted to let you know that we are here for you, Zim. I might have been your enemy, but no one deserves to be treated like that. I want to put our differences aside and possibly work on being friends."

"... YOU LIE!!!!!!" Zim shrieked after taking a moment to process the infermation. "I am the almighty ZIM!! Why would I ever be called a defect?! I am the greatest invader of all of Irk!!! What you saw was just a acting! It wasn't a re-" Gaz cut him off by hitting his shoulder.

"Zim, we know that was real. Its ok. We want to be your... I hate having to use this word... We want to be your friends." Gaz said after shutting Zim up. "If you tell anyone I did this I'll throw you into a nightmare world from which there is no escape." She said before giving Zim a quick reassuring hug.

"I... Uh... W-wha?... Why?..." Zim asked, now dumbfounded as he stared at Gaz in shock

"Because we want to be your friends, Zim... Tell you what. For now just take some time to think about being our friend." Dib said as he turned to leave.

Zim watched Dib turn around before running to him and hugging both him and Gaz tightly. "I'M SO SORRY, DIB-HUMAN!!!!" He cried as his facade finally broke to show the emotional damage that Zim had been hiding just under the surface.

Dib was shocked but quickly started hugging Zim back. "Its ok, Zim."

Gaz was visibly uncomfortable and was about to push the crying alien away but decided not to and just hugged him back with her brother. "You tell anyone I did this and you're dead, Zim." She said as her face softened a bit. Her words didn't sound like her usual threats. They were hollow, as if she didn't truly mean them.

 **AN: That was unexpected. Anyway I hope you all enjoy the story. It's gonna get crazy in later chapters. I may need to change the rating later. For now, let's just see where my mind takes us. Read and Review, guys. Until next time. I'm Fireheart, and I gotta fly. later days.**


	3. Chapter 3: Average Day

A few weeks have passed since Zim had officially been banished to earth and he was still learning how to actually be a friend. Dib and Gaz were over at Zim's base.

"Zim, you can't just experiment on people!" Dib complained while letting a boy out of restraints. "There are laws in place against experimentation like this."

"Oh, come on, Dib-human. It will be an interesting experiment. Besides, don't you wish you could fly like a bird? Thats all I'm doing." Zim responded as he tried to put the kid back in the restraints.

"By fusing his DNA with bird DNA? Don't you remember what happened last time? You turned us into baloney. It took weeks for the affects to wear off!" Dib argued back.

"Well excuse me for trying to give the worm-baby the ability to fly."

"You would just end up turning him into a bird! Humans don't want to be birds. We may want to be able to fly, but we don't want to be birds, Zim." Dib and Zim continued to argue while Zim erased the kids memory of the last hour.

"Fine. Ruin my fun... Party pooper." Zim pouted as he put his disguise back on and walked the kid out of his base with Dib following behind them.

"I'm just saying that you can't experiment on random kids. Right, Gaz?" He asked his sister who was sitting on the couch in the living room, playing her Game Slave.

"I don't know. I thought it was funny when you were a piece of sandwich meat." She shrugged, not looking from her game.

"See? Gaz-human appreciates my brilliant brain meat. I am the almighty ZIM!!!" He said in his usual tone.

"I never said that. I just said I thought it was funny when Dib was baloney." Gaz corrected Zim as she paused her game and put it in her pocket. "Besides, who cares if a few people get experimented on? Especially those that need to be doomed." Gaz added.

"... You two are impossible." Dib said having given up. He simply sat on the couch giving Zim room to sit between them.

"Ok. Ok. I'll stop experimenting on random worm-babies." Zim said as he sat between Gaz and Dib. "... Wanna watch TV?" Zim asked as he held up the remote.

"Sure. What's on?" Dib asked as he settled in.

"Lets see... Angry Monkey show... Mysterious mysteries... Cartoons... Oh, there is a video game contest being broadcast on the MLG channel." Zim said as he flipped through the guide.

"MLG." Was all Gaz said and Zim turned the tv to that channel for her.

"Thats fine with me." Dib said, not wanting to anger his sister.

"Ok then." Zim said as he put the remote down and watched with his friends for a little while.

 **AN: Hello again. here is the update for today. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter... Even though it is just filler while I work on the bigger chapter thats coming up. My next update wont be till Friday, sadly. Collage classes and all. The reviews are very appreciated. I'm Fireheart, and I gotta fly. Later days.**


	4. Chapter 4: A New Idea

Its been a few months since Zim and Dib became friends. Zim has been learning skills to help him better blend in with humans, such as talking like a normal human. Its a slow day in Zim's base as he messes with some of his old inventions.

"Honestly, what was I thinking? Squid robots. That was just stupid." Zim said to himself as he dismantled the squidbots.

There was a ringing coming through his pack and a small screen extended and movied in front of him. "Hello? Zim speaking." He said to the screen.

The screen flickered to life to reveal that it was Dib who was calling. "Hey, Zim. Gaz and I have a surprise for you. Why don't you swing on by later?" Dib asked Zim who had oil and a bit of dirt on himself.

"That sounds fine, Dib. I'll be over as soon as I finish with these squidbots... Fun experiment, but what was I thinking? They can't even function properly out of the water." He said as there was a sudden pop and squid ink was sprayed all over Zim's face.

"Looks like you're a little busy right now, huh? Want me to come over and help?" Dib asked his friend as he watched Zim get covered in ink.

"BLEGH!!! Some got in my mouth!! Such a nasty taste... Yeah. That would be great, Dib. Bring Gaz with you. I want to talk to her about this game I'm making and see what she thinks." Zim said as he grabbed a few clean rags and started using them to get the ink off his face.

"Sounds good, Zim. We'll be there in a few minutes." Dib said to Zim before turning the communicator off. "Gaz, lets go over to Zim's base. He wants to talk to you about the game he's making and see what you think of it." Dib said, turning to his sister who was on her Game Slave, as usual.

"That's fine with me... Should we bring his surprise with us?" She asked looking over to what looked like a battle plan.

"That's a good idea. Why don't you be the one to give it to him? He maybe our friend, but he is still stubbern and doesn't listen to me much. He does seem to listen to you more, though." Dib said as he started noticing a patern in Zim's behavior over the last few months.

"What do you mean, Dib?" Gaz asked her brother curiously as she paused and turned off her Game Slave. "He doesn't listen to me more... Does he?" She stopped to think as she realized the pattern Zim had of arguing with Dib until she stepped in. Zim would listen to her almost every time.

"He does. I'm surprised you havent noticed, Gaz. Its almost like Zim... Nah. Forget it." Dib said, cutting himself off. He honestly just didn't want to think of the possibility that he was right.

Later at Zim's Base Dib is helping with shutting down some of Zim's old experiments while Zim talks with Gaz about the game he is making. "So basically a game about invading another planet, blending in to get information, then building something to enslave, destroy, or protect the world you are on depending on how you feel about the world. The personality of the aliens are procedurally generated, as is the planet your on... So basically you're life, except that you have the choice of enslaving, destroying, and saving the planet from the start?" Gaz asked as Zim and Dib continued working.

"Basically, yes. What do you think of the idea? Does it sound like a game you and other gamers would enjoy, Gaz?" Zim asked before stopping his work to talk with Gaz and give himself a break.

"It would make an interesting concept, but wouldn't you need incredibly long code, as well as a ton of processing power just to make it work right?" Gaz asked as she thought about everything Zim wanted to do with his game.

"The coding won't be a problem... The processing might, though..." Zim admitted as he thought about ways to overcome this new obstacle.

Dib finished his part of the work and was now sitting with Zim and Gaz with a can of poop cola.

"The way it sounds it would take an actual super computer just to play, Zim. Maybe wait for earth tech to advance a bit more first?" Dib suggested before sipping from his cola.

"I've got it!! We make our own system out of spare parts from my experiments." Zim said triumphantly.

"That could work, but people won't buy a whole new system for only one game, Zim. The people maybe sheep, but they aren't THAT dumb." Responded Gaz.

"I know that. We can develop the system and a few other games... I need ideas for games." Zim said and started to think about different ideas that would make good games for his new system.

"Well, while you're thinking about that, Zim, we have a gift for you." Gaz said as she pulled the battle plans out of her bag that she had sitting beside her.

"What is this?" Zim asked as he took the paper from Gaz and started to look at it.

"Battle plans." Dib said simply. "We thought about it, and we want to help you get back at your tallest... If you want to, that is. Its up to you, Zim."

"Yeah. I'm the one who came up with the battle plan. What do you think?" Gaz asked and looked over the plans with Zim.

"... They are brilliant... Not even an Irken with the most advanced strategical mind would come up with this... If we did this then I don't think Irk would even know we were there till it was to late." Zim said with honesty as he looked over the battle plans and started thinking about possibly using them.

 **AN: Hey, guys. Sorry this chapter is mostly just Zim talking about developing a new game system. I did manage to get the new idea I was talking about into the chapter. As always, read and review. I'm Fireheart, and I gotta fly. Later days.**


	5. Chapter 5: Zim's Game Struggle

"With the processing power needed for the system to run my game we could probably make a full dive VR game." Zim said as he tried to think of game ideas for the system.

"Zim, I don't think humans are ready for a full dive VR game." Gaz said as she paused and put away her Game Slave in her pocket. "Why not just make a few games that show off the processing power of the system from game types that already exist. You could make racing games, fighters, beat em ups, RPGs, etc. For example, you could make a racing game that uses the whole US as a game map." The girl gamer suggested as Zim started writing down possible ideas for games.

Gaz and Dib helped Zim to come up with plenty of ideas for games that Zim could make for his new system. After a couple of days the list was almost 200 games long.

"Hmm... This seems like enough games that humans would buy a new system... Right?" Zim asked unsure.

"Yeah. That seems like enough." Gaz replied before looking up at the clock on Zim's wall. "Well its getting late. We should probably be getting home." She said as she pulled out her Game Slaze and started to play her latest game as she and Dib started to the door.

"O-oh. Ok. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Zim said looking a little disappointed that they were leaving. This slight disappointment went unnoticed by Gaz due to her game. However, Dib noticed and thought it was rather obvious.

"Yeah. We'll see you tomorrow Zim." Gaz said. She then left and started on her way home with her brother right behind her.

 **hey, guys. sorry this chapter took so long. life got in the way and when life wasn't in the way i had writers block. anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this filler chapter. The next chapter is already close to being done. I'm FireHeart and I gotta fly. Later days.**


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